Up and coming events in Oxford

  • Sunday 22 January, Oxford 10k Charity Run, Horspath Sports Ground and Athletics Track, 10.30am to 12.30pm. A three lap run. Registration opens at 9am. www.mccpromotions10kseries.com
  • Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 February, Quidditch Valentines Cup 4: Old, New, Borrowed, Blue, Horspath Sports Ground and Athletics Track, 8am to 5pm. Players from across the UK and Europe are expected to participate in this Quidditch tournament, organised by the Oxford University Quidditch Club. www.ouqc.uk
  • Saturday 18 February, Turl Street Arts Festival 2017, Brasenose Lane, 10.30am to 4pm. Celebration of 20 years of the Turl Street Arts Festival with a number of arts and crafts activities, poetry, busking and food-stalls. The festival is organised by the Turl Street Colleges. https://www.facebook.com/TurlStreetArtsFestival/

Energy pipe – Christmas update

Work on the first phase of the energy pipe works is coming to an end. Trenches in Lime Walk, All Saints Road and Latimer Road are being backfilled and resurfaced, ready for a final clean on Friday. At today’s meeting with the County Council, Vital Energi and the Trust, we discussed the lining in the affected roads. It was agreed that double yellow lines would be painted before the start of the Christmas weekend – if this cannot be scheduled by the City Council, this will be done by Vital Energi as we don’t want any safety issues to come up from parking on corners and other hazardous spots. White lines for parking slots need to be checked to make sure locations tally exactly with traffic orders, so will be re-painted back in the New Year.

The second stage of works to the south side of London Road will resume on 3 January. Work on the north side of London Road is scheduled to start on January 16th. For the schedule of works, please go to the Trust’s website via this link.

Closure of Paddington station over Christmas

Paddington station will be closed over Christmas this year to allow for electrification and Crossrail works.    The six-day closure starts on Christmas Eve, Saturday December 24th through to Thursday 29 December.  This will mean trains are very busy on Friday 23 December, and GWR is recommending customers to book ahead and travel early if they can.

Trains will start and finish at Ealing Broadway throughout the closure with customers completing their journey by London Underground.  There are no lifts at the station.  GWR is therefore recommending that customers use trains to and from London Marylebone changing at Oxford. It has arranged for tickets to be valid on these services.

You can find full details on their website  including details on travelling with bikes, their sleeper service and their Pullman dining service.

Beech House monthly update

Simon Houldsworth is the new project manager for the Beech House works in Latimer Road.

 

He reports as follows:

Progress on site:

Concrete works to the basement is progressing well, despite the drop in temperature and the limited access to site. We have managed to make our drainage connections in Latimer Road during the Vital energi works to reduce the impact on the access to Latimer road at a later date.

Work to be progressed over the next 4 weeks

We shall be completing the concrete works to the basement and starting the foundation to the maisonettes, as well as setting up a material delivery area.

Christmas shutdown

We will shut down for Christmas on Friday 23rd December and return on Wednesday 4th January.   There will be full time security on site all over Christmas.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What sites in Oxford can be built on?

There is an important set of documents to read for anyone interested in the viability of sites for housing or other economic use in Oxford. This is referred to as HELAA by planning policy officers. It will have significance when the Local Plan options document is compiled ready for consultation next summer.

Some sites have been identified as potentially acceptable for development, others not. Those with concerns about Ruskin Fields and the golf course will find it useful.

HELAA is publicly available on the City Council’s website and you can download the appendix by clicking this link.

Headington Singers present…

..their 30th anniversary year concert on  Friday 9 December at 7.30pm at All Saint’s Church, Lime Walk.

This will be a celebratory feast of English Christmas music, much of it written in the county. There will be old favourites and unfamiliar songs and carols, including a glorious medley of carols in Christus Natus Est by contemporary composer Cecilia McDowall. And they’ll be singing some ‘West Gallery’ carols. These were written for parish churches between about 1700 and 1850 but fell out of favour, partly because many did not consider them solemn enough! This exuberant music is now undergoing a revival.

They will be accompanied by the brilliant Alfredston Brass ensemble who will add their own contribution to the festive flavour.

Drinks will be served in the interval so you can catch up with friends. Tickets on the door cost £12 (£10 concessions, children free) including free programme notes.

Latest news on energy pipe works

There has been a change of plan regarding traffic management in Lime Walk up until Christmas. Three way traffic lights have now been ruled out for various reasons e.g. this would significantly increase the currently congested situation causing a bottleneck and as a result parking bays would need to be suspended in order to accommodate traffic waiting at a red light. We asked for assurances about the safety of pedestrians at that junction if another solution was found.

The preferred course of action by Vital Energi and the County Council now is for the traffic flow to continue as it is now, but with marshalls for pedestrian safety & manual traffic control.

Re enquiries about signage, the yellow diversion signs in the Stapleton/Bickerton Road areas are in place for drivers of vehicles unable to turn into Latimer Road from London Road who are following a diversion route. We realise that local residents don’t find these helpful but they are placed there to help visitors to the area.